Sony will not release The Interview at all

Just kidding on that whole VOD/DVD release. Sony Pictures responded to criticism about cancelling the theatrical release of The Interview by canceling its release altogether. The studio released a statement that they have no plans to release the James Franco comedy at all after US officials reportedly linked the Sony hack and theater threats to North Korea. As of yesterday the studio said they were looking into releasing the film on VOD and on home media, but those plans have apparently changed.

This decision could mean the rights to the film could go to another studio, but after all of this controversy I don't know what studio would want to pick this film up. On the other hand, if another studio did pick it up they could make a lot of money because there are a lot of people who have now said they'd watch the film just out of spite, even if they didn't want to see it to begin with. As it currently stands, this will result in a loss of millions of dollars to Sony Pictures as the film alone had a budget of $42 million. That isn't even counting the money spent on marketing and actor salaries. The Sony leaks told us that Seth Rogen received $8.4 million while Franco received $6.5 million.

Like I said in my previous posts about this, I didn't want to see The Interview to begin with and I wouldn't even watch it out of spite like many are saying they would. I thought the premise was stupid and I was surprised when I first heard about it that a studio actually funded the idea. I'm not saying I'm a supporter of North Korea or of Kim Jong-Un, but a little common sense would tell you it wasn't a very good idea in the first place. I'm sure at some point this film will see the light of day, but it isn't looking too promising right now.

Sony pulls theatrical release of The Interview

After several theater chains such as AMC, Cinemark, and Regal Cinemas decided to not show the upcoming Sony release, The Interview, the studio has decided to pull the film from its theatrical release altogether. This is a result of the recent "Sony hacks" by internet hackers as they issued 9/11-type threats against theaters still choosing to show the film next week. The studio is already exploring options to release the film such as an on-demand style VOD release or straight to DVD.

Sony's response was:

"Those who attacked us stole our intellectual property, private emails, and sensitive and proprietary material, and sought to destroy our spirit and our morale – all apparently to thwart the release of a movie they did not like. We are deeply saddened at this brazen effort to suppress the distribution of a movie, and in the process do damage to our company, our employees, and the American public. We stand by our filmmakers and their right to free expression and are extremely disappointed by this outcome."

Many theater chains who ultimately decided to drop the film prior to Sony's announcement have now come out and said the cancellation is due to Sony's lack of confidence in the film. Regal Cinemas made a statement saying they feel the cancellation is due to negative press over the film and that the studio had lacked confidence since news first broke of the film. Others feel that it would have destroyed the usual high box office numbers over Christmas and would have forced families to not see films such as Annie and Night at the Museum 3. Rest assured, those are still your holiday releases for this year and you won't have Seth Rogen or James Franco present to ruin it.

I don't think this is a bad move by the studio. People online are bitching about freedom and how the studio has given into the hacker demands, but the way I see it is this whole situation had no victorious outcome. You either screen the movie and potentially risk thousands of American lives or you pull the movie, lose some money, and give the hackers what they want. I don't see it as a freedom issue. I see it as playing things a bit safe and trying to avoid something terrible. Whether the threats had validity or not, I can guarantee that no one wanted anything going down at any theater in America. The last thing we need is more Century 16 shootings or bombings. Come on, people. Just wait until Sony releases it on VOD or DVD and shut up about it.

In my opinion, The Interview was a stupid premise to begin with and if I remember correctly it had already received a delay due to the subject matter. It was a gamble by Sony to even make this movie and they obviously lost the bet.

Sony hackers threaten attacks on theaters screening The Interview

The Sony hackers have just upped the stakes on their recent releases against Sony Pictures Entertainment. In a new group of files today, the internet hackers issued threats against every theater screening the upcoming James Franco comedy, The Interview. Yeah, the movie where Franco and Seth Rogen are recruited by the CIA to kill the leader of North Korea. The group claims 9/11 style attacks will hit at different times and different places for all theaters screening the film under the belief that the film will cause a war with North Korea.

The message is as follows:

"Warning
We will clearly show it to you at the very time and places “The Interview” be shown, including the premiere, how bitter fate those who seek fun in terror should be doomed to.
Soon all the world will see what an awful movie Sony Pictures Entertainment has made.
The world will be full of fear.
Remember the 11th of September 2001.
We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places at that time.
(If your house is nearby, you’d better leave.)
Whatever comes in the coming days is called by the greed of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
All the world will denounce the SONY.
More to come…"

Personally, I am happy that I wasn't planning on seeing The Interview to begin with but at the same time this all seems to be overkill.  These hackers have released a great deal of things including the script for the upcoming James Bond film, private studio emails, and full unreleased movies so I think they might just be enjoying the spotlight and figured that terrorism was popular enough at the moment.
Another thought I had, which I don't know how this would help matters, was that Sony is doing this themselves to boost popularity of the studio. Sony releases haven't done so well lately so they definitely needed the hype. I don't know if this is a good way to go about it, but there haven't really been any top agencies going after these hackers. With threats like these coming out I am a bit confused why the FBI hasn't launched a probe on these hackers, but that might just be me.

So yeah, you might want to wait until The Interview comes out on DVD if any of this has credibility.